BLOMLJUD

This album, strangely enough, manages to sound like a mixture of very pompous vocal pop and intricately elaborate symphonic prog rock. I had not thought this mixture to be possible, but this release really manages to work around the discrepancies between the two styles to produce a very congruent sound. Amazing. The progressive part of the sound is incredibly well thought out, with the addition of lengthy melodic passages and the bizarre tempos that every progger is accustomed to. But it's the other part of the sound that makes this music so unusual. It sounds like it could be reorganized into Christmas carols. The vocals are unusually skillful and with a couple of happy guitars and keyboards here and there, an atmosphere of sugar-coated happiness is instantly created. Over abusing the major scale to the point where the music sometimes borders on the childish, it may be a let down for those with low tolerance levels for predictable melodies and overly euphoric tunes. However, if you have a taste for this kind of sound, this truly is a VERY worthwhile album.

Conclusion: Good progressive rock, but excessively happy and pompous. If only they had steered away from all the instant-happiness melodies, it would truly be a very good album.